Evolution
by Yhunoh
Summary: At the young age of fourteen, Orihime Inoue died in an accident. No Shinigami appeared to send her to the Soul Society. Nobody saved her from the Hollow that caused her second death in that fateful night. And in the depths of Hueco Mundo, a new Hollow was born.


AN: I really wanted to write a Hollow Orihime fic. I'm not exactly sure why. I should probably stop starting random projects and focus on the older ones...

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"Hello? Is anyone there? Please, I need help!" A young girl stood alone on the street. Her voice trembled. Nobody answered her desperate pleas. She turned around, gray eyes fixed on the body lying lifeless in the middle of the street. The pale yellow lights of the street lamps illuminated the blood that had spread around her head, painting the asphalt in a deep red color. The horror at the gruesome sight was visible in her eyes. She had not heard the car. Of course not. Orihime had, as usual, been lost in her daydreams, and the car was simply too fast for her slow reflexes. She had only felt a brief sensation of pain when she hit the ground. The driver responsible for her death, had fled before the light left her eyes. And now she was standing here staring down at her own body. As if this was the universe's idea for some cruel joke. She began to cry.

She held her hands to her chest, a habit that stemmed from her lack of self-confidence. At the moment it was a gesture that served the purpose to calm herself down. But even this tiny comfort in all this madness was for naught, when her fingers came in contact with the cold links of the chain, anchored in the middle of her chest. It clanked when Orihime moved. She hated that noise. Without hesistance, she began to close her hand around the chain, and started pulling. Pain overwhelmed her senses, as soon as she had completed this foolish action. She gasped, let go of the chain as if it had burnt her skin. Pain pulsated through her body at regular intervals, forcing her to her knees. She fell against the wall, feeling the rough concrete rubbing against her back. The asphalt was cold, so much colder than it had been this morning. She laughed. How strange- to be dead and still feel things like coldness. Maybe this was just a dream. A horrible nightmare. She closed her eyes, leaned against the wall. If she wished really hard to be somewhere else, maybe she could escape from here.

A beach spread out in front of her eyes. Her bare feet dug into the sand, the grains tickling her toes. Dolphins jumped out of the glittering blue waves. She turned around and smiled. Ichigo ran towards her, a big grin on his face.

She opened her eyes and was yanked back into reality. The asphalt she was sitting on was cold. The night lonely. Her body still in front of her. Kurosaki was nowhere to be seen. Nothing had changed. She pulled her legs in close to her body to preserve warmth. The shimmer had disappeared from her eyes. They seemed lifeless, defeated, almost broken. "Kurosaki-kun..." Her lips moved, but what came out was hardly louder than a whisper. She buried her face in her hands as more warm tears ran down her cheeks. Orihime wished she had been more confident. Had the courage to confess her feelings to him. In the romance books she read, the boy always confessed his love to the girl. She had fantasized about how Kurosaki took her aside and did exactly that. What an idiot she had been. If only she had fantasized less and done more... Her fingers dug through her bright hair. Now she would never get the chance to do so. Because she was dead. _Dead_. What an ugly, mean word. And yet it haunted her, refused to let her rest. You are dead. _Dead_. **Dead**. "Be quiet," she whispered.

Fear overtook her. What if she stopped existing? What happened to the souls who had left their earthly bodies? Would she be reborn? Would she still remember Kurosaki, and Tatsuki, and all her friends and classmates? Would she remember her brother? _Maybe I will meet __Sora__._ A thought meant to be comforting, but yet, it only made her situation worse. Because her brother was dead, and if she ended up in the same place as him, then she would be, too. And there would be no going back from there. For a long time she had wished to have only one more opportunity to be with her brother. Would this be her chance now? But why did she not want it then? What was that feeling that crept up in her, suffocated her? _I do__n't__ want to die_. Of course. What else? _But I am already dead. Stupid._ She balled her hands tightly.

Her thoughts went to Tatsuki. Tatsuki who had protected her, Tatsuki who had always been there for her. Tatsuki who had offered her to stay with her tonight, after they had spent hours studying for the upcoming math exam. Any other day, she would have accepted gratefully, but not today. For reasons that were unknown to her, she decided to go back home by herself. Did fate predestine her death? How cruel... with only fourteen years already meant to die. She hardly had the chance to savor her life and now it had already been taken from her.

Anger came over her. Born into an abusive family, rescued by a brother who also died in an accident. Exactly on the day of their first fight. And now it was her turn. She really hated fate. For a moment- just the fraction of a second- she wished someone else could have taken her spot. Shame overwhelmed her, as soon as she completed the thought. How could she? Nobody deserved this. No one should suffer for her. She rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her school uniform and stood up.

She decided to take a few tentative steps towards her body and then stopped hesitantly. Maybe she could call someone with her phone... was that even possible as a ghost? She shook her head and bent down. Her fingers floated only inches above her motionless figure. Being so close to her own corp- _body_ felt really strange. Somehow creepy. She paused.

A loud sound in the distance interrupted her. She drove up and looked around worriedly. The girl spun in a circle, anxious, as she heard the same sound again. Her eyes gazed over her surroundings, but found nothing out of place.

There!

It sounded like a horribly distorted scream. Goose bumps spread over her body. Was it just her imagination, or did it sound much closer this time around? She flinched when a loud buzzing emitted from one of the streetlights. The lightbulb began flickering. With a loud bang it exploded, causing the poor girl to shriek in surprise. Glass splinters rained down onto the asphalt, glittering in the light of the moon. One lantern after the other started malfunctioning. _Please don't._ Her prayers remained unanswered, as soon more and more bulbs stopped working. The street became darker and darker with each light vanishing, until the entire area was submerged in darkness, the moon being the only remaining source of light.

Another scream echoed through the silence of the night, this time much closer to her position than the previous ones. She began to tremble from head to toe. Only with the greatest willpower did she manage to force her body to move and hide behind a big garbage can. She peered out into the street from behind the black bin. The plastic felt as cold as the gray asphalt underneath her feet. She just wanted to go home and take a long, hot and relaxing bath. She wished she had accepted Tatsuki's invitation.

A whimper left her lips as the next scream arose. What a terrible, terrible noise. Her hands wandered to her ears and she was tempted to just cover them, to not hear any more of this. Then Orihime dropped them. Whatever was coming- she had to be ready. She held her breath. No birds chirped at this hour of the night. No crickets were heard. Not a single soul except her was out in the streets. A flicker moved through the night.

If Orihime had turned her head just a little to the right, she might have noticed the strange phenomenon. Instead, her gaze was fixed only on the street in front of her. Every single muscle in her body was tensed to the extreme. But she didn't see the obvious. The girl didn't notice the strange flickering that was approaching her defenseless form and rapidly began to gain more and more features. She did not see the creature's brutally curved claws. A breeze of wind blew her orange hair to the side.

The trash can exploded. Orihime screamed in shock and stumbled back, but it was too late. Something sliced through her chest and threw her body hard against the concrete wall. She numbly registered the blood dripping from the vertical slits in her chest but felt no pain. The fear had given way to a strange emptiness and state of detachment. Orihime leaned one hand against the wall and pushed herself off it. With wide eyes she inspected the creature in front of her. The thing was truly a fearsome sight. Long black claws, one covered with her blood, grew out of four skeletal legs. Brown-black fur covered parts of the creature's body and a large bulging mask stretched over its entire head. But the worst part, were the eyes. Black abysses behind a pearl white mask and bright yellow slits that watched every movement of the girl attentively. She wondered if the fact that this monster appeared to possess intelligence was worse than the fact that such a monster could even exist.

Her legs trembled. Her hands had the temperature of ice. She couldn't move an inch. She might as well have been carved out of stone, for her body refused to obey her commands. She could only watch as the monster raised its claws again, preparing for the finishing strike. And then she found herself running, faster than she had ever run before in her entire life.

Orihime screamed for help. No one answered. The buildings were dark, the curtains closed. No one was outside anymore at this time. _Maybe it's better that way... at least nobody else __will get__ hurt._ She lost her footing and fell to the ground, scraping open her bare knees. She forced herself to get up and keep running. A whimper escaped her lips. Blood ran down her injured knee. She didn't dare to turn around, because she already knew that the creature would be right behind her. In its hunt for Orihime it destroyed countless streetlights, and left deep wounds in the street with its twisted claws.

Time seemed to get slower and slower. Orihime was soon aware of the fact that she wouldn't make it. She wasn't fast enough, and she had nothing to defend herself. She felt herself calming down. _Kurosaki-kun... thank you. Thank you __that I had the chance to meet you__. In another life, it might have __been different.__ Maybe I would have had the courage to confess my feelings. Nevertheless... I am not sad. I am grateful for the time I was allowed to spend with you. _A deafening howl resonated through the night. Black claws flashed in the moonlight. _Tatsuki... thank you for always being there for me. __I couldn't have wished for a better friend than you__. _A tear ran down her chin, its watery form dancing through the air. The silver light of the moon reflected on its glossy surface, giving it the appearance of a jewel. A shadow fell over the moon. _Goodbye Ichigo. Goodbye Tatsuki. Thank you. _

Time continued on as normal. The tear burst into a thousand pieces as it hit the ground, one last remnant of the girl called Inoue Orihime. Silence reigned the night once again.

Kurosaki Ichigo was on his way home from the supermarket when a drop of rain hit his cheek. He frowned- the kind of expression his classmate Inoue liked to imitate- and gazed at the sky. Strangely enough, it remained the only drop of rain. He shook his head in confusion, and continued on his way home.

His father greeted him with the usual kick, the kind he was able to counter in his sleep. The words of praise spilling from his father did not affect him. Nor did he care about them. Normally he would have fought back, but today he didn't feel like it. To the concern of his younger sister Yuzu, he went to bed after only taking a few bites from her meal.

One light after the other faded in the household of the Kurosaki family, as the respective family members went to sleep. But Ichigo was not granted a restful sleep that night. Only when the first pale rays of sunshine appeared on the horizon did the teenager manage to fall into a light slumber.


End file.
